Registration
Ad Astra Conference registration fees include conference sessions, breakfasts, lunches, and Tuesday night dinner/event.
Sessions
2012 Users' Conference Session Tracks
Product Key:
AS = Astra Schedule
PA = Platinum Analytics
SS = Strategic Services
Client presenters are shown in blue bold.
Academics Track
| AS | Panel Discussion: Client Experience with the Room Optimization Sandbox: The key to matching sections to rooms successfully is accurate section need identification. How well you configure preferences and settings will determine the quality of your schedule. The Room Optimization Sandbox is a powerful tool that can be used to schedule your sections in bulk. Join us to learn from two partner schools how you can most effectively apply preferences and regions to achieve an ideal schedule. A town hall style question and answer session will be available at the end of the presentations. Client presenters: Jessica Steenbergen, Western Kentucky University; Steven Morales, Assistant Director of Academic Support & Facilities Resources, Texas Tech University; Cheryl Jacobs, Senior Business Analyst and Project Manager, ITS, University of New Brunswick |
| AS | Ace your Exams: Conflict-Free Exam Scheduling: Astra Schedule users can set preferences for and schedule exams using a standard translation table. In this session, we will review the exam scheduling process and settings to ensure a successful exam session. |
| AS | Best Practices in Academic Scheduling and Configuration: There are countless ways to achieve academic scheduling in Astra Schedule. This session will help you determine how your institution can best take advantage of all the functionality that Astra has to offer by configuring your system to support efficient business practices. We will also review how leverage the configuration for manual academic scheduling. |
| AS | Automating and Optimizing the Scheduling Experience: Students’ ideal paths through degree programs are defined, allowing our Sectioning tool to create a schedule based on student-specific program needs. Timetabling then optimizes the institution’s facilities by assigning times, days and rooms while ensuring students and instructors have conflict-free schedules. |
| SS | Strategic Mobilization: How to get the most from your strategic findings: This session will focus on best practices for mobilizing the institution after reviewing strategic findings. We will discuss forming a schedule review team, building policy and propagating the change recommendations to the departments, among other things. |
| SS | Streamlining your Processes: Strategic Services Overview: Learn how Ad Astra’s customized services in the areas of Strategic Planning, Schedule Refinement, Product, Technical and Data have helped institutions reach their institutional goals. |
| SS | After a Strategic Scheduling Check-Up : Where do we go from here?: You've heard the term "Strategic Scheduling Check-Up" and may have wondered "What does that actually mean and why would I want one?" In this session we will review why the University of North Texas decided our institution would benefit from having a Strategic Scheduling Check-Up, what steps were involved in the process, and how we will make the best use of the results. Client presenter: Keitha Robertson, IT Specialist - Registrar's Office, University of North Texas |
| SS | Preparing Your Data for a Strategic Scheduling Check-Up: The Strategic Scheduling Check-Up relies heavily on the data provided by institutions. Learn how to ensure that your data is ready. |
| PA | Analytics and the Future of Academic Scheduling: Join us to see upcoming features and functionality, including predictive program analysis, simulated registration, sectioning, program templates and the academic planner. Plus, learn about the exciting ideas Ad Astra is dreaming about for future development based on the trends in higher education. |
| PA |
Platinum Analytics Demo and Case Study: View a demonstration of Platinum Analytics and hear about Loyola Marymount University's case study. Client presenter: Robert Nitsos, Associate Registrar, Student Records Systems, Loyola Marymount University |
| PA | Using Platinum to Triangulate Course Data: At The University of Texas at El Paso, we used Platinum Analytics as one source of course data, in addition to data from our student information system, to identify patterns in course offerings including course offerings that may be eliminated, courses that should be added, courses that were only offered once in the past two academic years, and bottleneck courses. In this presentation, we offer suggestions for using Platinum data to identify areas of concern, recommend changes in course offerings, and make changes to meet the needs of your students. Client presenters: Juan Vicario, Associate Director of Enrollment Services Technology, The University of Texas at El Paso; Amanda Vasquez, Associate Registrar, The University of Texas at El Paso. |
| AS/PA |
High Level View: Dashboards: These
state-of-the-art engaging charts and graphics bring
multiple viewpoints into a single view allowing you
to roll-up and drill-down to monitor resource
utilization, bottlenecks, primetime and other
measures of space management, course demand, and
overall efficiency against institutional goals.
Coupled with a Strategic Scheduling Checkup, you
can track the key performance indicators of
efficiency, capacity and student success at your
institution as compared with like institutions. |
| AS/PA | Putting it All Together: Getting the Most From the Ad Astra Suite: You see the possibility of each piece of the Ad Astra Suite, but how do they all fit together? And how can you integrate all of Ad Astra’s tools into your current practices and culture? This session takes a practical look at the business processes that best match the different features of the Ad Astra Suite and the data, policy and buy-in your institution needs to implement them. |
| PA | Helping Students Succeed with the Academic Planner: Learn how the Academic Planner can help your students navigate an overwhelming amount of course choices to stay on their critical path toward graduation. Take a look at the Academic Planner today and learn more about our phased development for the future. |
| AS/PA | Sectioning and Timetabling for Success: Improving Scheduling Metrics: Have you been looking at your current scheduling “roadmap” and wondering if there was a better route to improved scheduling metrics? Well, you won’t have to wonder long—sectioning and/or timetabling are the answer you have been looking for. We will discuss the use of student academic history as a foundation for sectioning, in addition to timetabling for improved facility utilization while minimizing conflicts. This session will provide a short demonstration of how Brown Mackie Colleges has used sectioning and timetabling at their institution. In addition, a review of key performance indicators will be presented, which support the change management strategy for this improved approach to the scheduling process. Traditional public and private not-for-profit and proprietary institutions are welcome to attend! Client presenter: Matt White, Campus Services Support Analyst, Brown Mackie College |
Events Track
| AS |
Event Management Enhancements in 7.5: The 7.5 release of Astra Schedule features extensive event management and calendaring enhancements. This version is game changing for event management teams or anyone trying to find or promote events on campus. Join us to see the new features that will delight your event schedulers. NOTE: This session will be offered twice. |
| AS | Managing Change: Getting Buy-in to Maximize the Use of Astra Schedule 7: Change is hard. Getting departments to update their business processes can be difficult, especially when they're not in your division, don't report to you, and are comfortable with the way they've been doing business. Whether it's academic departments or auxiliary services, at UTPA the Registrar's Office works with all of them on event scheduling. Sometimes we're trying to convince a long-time staffer that Astra Schedule 7 will make their job easier or educating a department chair about the facility usage policy. Come hear how we've built buy-in and community with the implementation of Astra Schedule 7. Client presenter: Jeff Rhodes, University Registrar, The University of Texas - Pan American |
| AS | Campus-wide Event Management and Regions: There are many ways to accomplish event scheduling in Astra Schedule. This session will cover them all – using a request form as a non-scheduler, scheduling straight off the calendar, using the Events Wizard and more. We’ll also discuss why regions are important for campus scheduling. Additionally, we will cover managing more complex events with unique setup and teardown requirements, pre and post meetings, etc. |
| AS | Managing Event Scheduling in an Evolving, Decentralized Environment: Think “decentralized” means chaos? Think again! Two institutions will provide strategies for success in a decentralized environment. OCCC will focus on the logic used with permissions, territories, and accountability by which they manage regions and resources and train users. Eastern University will discuss how Astra Schedule assists with cultural change on campus and allows for organized planning. They will also touch on educating and motivating staff and faculty to avoid potential pitfalls. A town hall style question and answer session will be available at the end of the presentations. Client presenters: Shawn P. McDonald, Assistant Director of Scheduling and Event Logistics, Eastern University; EJ Warren, Director of e-Student Services, Oklahoma City Community College |
| AS | So You Want to See It Before You Book It?: When our users are shopping for rooms and resources, they want to try them on for size, color and fit. Let us share with you how we initially built out our rooms and resources to assist our users with the best shopping experience. We provided the room description, configuration, features and regions as well as providing pictures for rooms and resources to ensure the selections will meet the user's needs. Client presenter: EJ Warren, Director of e-Student Services, Oklahoma City Community College |
| AS |
Getting the Most from Your Room Request Templates: Creating a uniform space request process can be difficult. Informing both the user and administrators make this transition much easier. Columbus State University has found some tools and tips that make this process exciting! OCCC has embarked on their own template path and has let it expand to meet the needs of the campus and the users. It has utilized region structure to define and identify unique room guidelines while providing logical and useful room request templates. OCCC will share the basics, logic and training guidelines their users have developed for the campus. A town hall style question and answer session will be available at the end of the presentations. Client presenters: John Crowe, Manager of Events & Logistic Services, Columbus State University; Steve Agbomofuegbe, Systems Support Specialist II, Columbus State University; Josh Wade, Imaging Specialist, Oklahoma City Community College |
| AS |
Best Practices for Event Configuration: There are countless ways to achieve event scheduling in Astra Schedule – from the simple placement of a staff meeting into an available classroom to complicated events with multiple reoccurring meetings, each with its own resource and space requirements. This session will help you determine how your institution can best take advantage of all the functionality that Astra has to offer by configuring your system to support efficient business practices. |
| AS | Equipment and Services: It’s no surprise that equipment and services are frequently booked with events on campus…People need all types of items! Learn how to set up your equipment and standalone or related services for event scheduling. We’ll review the process for scheduling these resources, and we’ll briefly touch on how the right people are notified when a resource is scheduled. Additionally, hear what’s coming in later versions for this area of the application. |
Technical
Track
| AS | Workflow and Notifications: This session will cover several areas related to the Astra Workflow Engine in Astra Schedule. Topics such as an overview of functionality, custom usage types, changes to the approval and notification process and a technical overview of how all the pieces are integrated using an XML workflow definition. |
| AS/PA | Up, Up and Away…To the Cloud: Prepare for an explanation of cloud computing that is light on technical jargon but heavy on concept. This session will cover the benefits that a cloud environment brings about, such as freeing up your institution’s IT resources and lowering cost of hardware needed. It will also touch on common concerns with remote services, including security, application performance and user customization. The material stems from lessons learned by the University of Texas at El Paso during an implementation of Platinum Analytics, and the resultant work with Ad Astra to develop a solution free of headaches. Ad Astra will also briefly discuss its transition to the cloud and Platinum as a Service. Client presenters: Juan Vicario, Associate Director of Enrollment Services Technology, The University of Texas at El Paso; Amanda Vasquez, Associate Registrar, The University of Texas at El Paso |
| AS | Keeping it Secure: Role Configuration and LDAP: Security touches on every aspect of an application, and properly configured security settings can avoid user frustration and enhance user experience. In this session we will explain the security architecture of Astra Schedule, suggest things to consider when setting up security, and walk through setting up users with various privileges so you can increase the value of the application. We will also walk through integrating Astra Schedule security with your network security using LDAP. |
| AS | Integrating with Other Systems through ATE 2.0 and API Technology: The Astra Transformation Engine (ATE) is the mechanism by which Astra interfaces with other systems, typically Student Information Systems. This session will explore the ATE mechanism; offering a brief introduction to the architecture, a discussion of currently supported interfaces, an overview of the design philosophy and approach to extending support to other systems, a technical discussion of the different interface operating modes (Batch, Realtime, etc.). In addition, we will discuss how the Astra API and Calendaring API can be used to provide custom data integration with 3rd party solutions, such as HVAC and signage. |
| AS | Building a Strong Foundation: Astra Schedule Architecture Overview: This session covers the technical aspects of the design of Astra Schedule. |
| PA | Degree Audit Integration: Learn how Platinum Analytics can integrate with degree audit systems (CAPP, DARS, etc.) to pull in student-specific course progress data towards their program/degree. |
General
Information Track
| AS | Panel Discussion: Benefits of Astra Schedule 7.5: Join a panel of client beta testers to have a town hall style conversation about their feedback on Astra Schedule 7.5. Release 7.5 focused mainly on event management and calendaring, but we will cover the entire application in this session. This will be an open forum; please be prepared with questions for the panel or the group in general. Client presenters: Pam Shane, Assistant Director of Administrative Systems, Franciscan University of Steubenville; Tim Snellenberger, Technology Coordinator, Registrar's Office, Central Michigan University; EJ Warren, Director of e-Student Services, Oklahoma City Community College |
| AS | Get Your Campus Excited about Using Ad Astra’s Activity Calendar: Explore some of the new 7.5 features with Franciscan University. Take a look at some Activity Calendars, how to embed Calendars into your Website and look at some options with the Calendars (allow filtering with Normal View, or not, with Condensed View). Build the filters and options inside the Calendar. What about Academic Calendars? Add a condensed view of the Music classes to your Music Department page, or those classes that have "exceptions to the normal times" to a web page. Spice up your Calendar Events by adding a link to a Press Release or any web page, or maybe YouTube? How about some "Rich Text"? Email a meeting to a friend or add it to your calendar. Get your campus excited about the activity calendar. Client presenter: Pam Shane, Assistant Director of Administrative Systems, Franciscan University of Steubenville |
| AS |
Astra Schedule: Where Did We Start and Where Do We Go From Here?: This session will review how Astra Schedule is currently used at Eastern University's St. Davids Campus. The session will then cover the Road Map for future utilization of Astra Schedule at the St. Davids campus, as well as other separate campuses and locations. Client presenter: Benjamin Davis, Network and Systems Administrator, Eastern University |
| AS | Using Crystal Reports in Astra Schedule: During this session we will cover the basics on navigation within Crystal reports and the basic table structure within Astra. Join us to learn the fundamentals of getting the information you need out of Astra Schedule. This is not intended to be a full Crystal Reports training session. For full training, please contact Crystal Reports. Client presenter: Hannah King, Office Manager, Baylor University |
| AS |
How Ad Astra Helped Our Transition from Quarters to
Semesters:
Ohio University transitioned from a quarter-based
calendar system to a semester-based calendar
effective in the fall of 2012. During the planning
and transition phases, we relied on Astra Schedule
to help us get a clearer picture of the state of our
space and curricular needs. We will discuss some of
the ways we utilized Astra Schedule for data entry,
planning, and gauging preparedness, such as: - Creating and using a separate Astra environment for planning (and preserving the data so data entry did not have to be redone) - Working with Ad Astra to develop custom utilization reporting - Using delivered Astra reports to aid planning and policy adherence (i.e., meeting patterns in use report, exporting section data and using it in Access databases, etc.) - Using preference sets, security, regions, and effective dating to model a new scheduling policy before it is approved - Using space utilization information to make renovation decisions Client presenter: Bob Bulow, Assistant Registrar for Catalog & Scheduling Services, Ohio University |
| AS | Getting the Information You Need: Reporting in Astra Schedule: Astra Schedule offers a wide array of delivered reports, including event, academic, space utilization and administrative reports. This session will cover how to add reports and set up report subscriptions. |
| AS |
Using Astra Reports to Support Capacity
Management and Efficient Scheduling: This
session will focus on understanding Astra Schedule
reports to run and analyze to support key strategies
in improving space utilization including: - Spreading class offerings over the entire scheduling week - Minimizing class offerings that use non-standard meeting patterns - Reducing unused seats in rooms by scheduling classes into appropriately sized rooms - Reducing the offering of unnecessary sections |
| AS | User Community Breakfast Round Table Discussions: These discussions will allow you to discuss specific functionality and best practices with your peers and Ad Astra experts. Choose from: Systems and ATE, Academics and Optimization, Event Management, Reporting, Sectioning and Timetabling. |
| AS | Breakfast Discussion about Strategic Road Mapping and Mobilization: These discussions will allow you to discuss mobilization plans and best practices with your peers and Ad Astra experts regarding strategic campus initiatives. |
| AS | Tracking the Development Path to Release: Find out how we move a software version down the path to release. We will review our development path, beta testing and quality assurance process and how it ties in with our constant commitment to improve the stability of the application. |
| AS | How to Train Users Effectively: Not everyone learns to use new software in the same way. Join us to learn the best ways two institutions have found to introduce Ad Astra to users to ensure a happy campus. We will discuss what has worked, what hasn’t and who on campus has been most receptive. Client presenters: Austin T. Walden, Section Coordinator/Trainer, Texas Tech University; Rachel Erkkila, Registrar, Des Moines Area Community College; Heidi Heilskov, Assistant Registrar, Des Moines Area Community College |
Note: The session list is subject to change.